Hallel [Heb.,=praise], in Judaism, Psalms 113 to 118, sung every morning of Hanukkah, at the Passover service, and at the morning service of most major Jewish holidays as an expression of joy ...

Gaster, Moses, 1856–1939, Romanian Jewish scholar and writer, b. Bucharest. Expelled (1885) from Romania for championing the Jewish cause, he went to England and was lecturer at Oxford (1886–9...

Feast, commemorative banquet symbolizing communal unity. Generally associated with primitive rituals and later with religious practices, feasts may also commemorate such events as births, marr...

Lamp, originally a vessel for holding oil or some combustible substance that could be burned through a wick for illumination; the term has been extended to other lighting devices. Stones, shel...

Maccabees or Machabees, Jewish family of the 2d and 1st cent. B.C. that brought about a restoration of Jewish political and religious life. They are also called Hasmoneans or Asmoneans after t...

Judaism, the religious beliefs and practices and the way of life of the Jews. The term itself was first used by Hellenized Jews to describe their religious practice, but it is of predominantly...